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THE 



BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 



AN 



HEROIC POEM. 



READ TO THE LITERARY SOCIETT OP BELFAST, BV 

THEREK WILLIAM HAMILTON DRUMMOND. 



« Quis Martem tunica tectum adamantina 
« Digne scrlpserit .'" HORt 



if<^^PPgQKQcv^>, 



CHARLESTON^ S. C. ^ 
rRINTED AT THE COURIER OFFICE; 
N0« If BROAD-ST&££T. 

1807. 



®itTTL£ OF TRAFALGAR, 

AM 

HlEROIC POEM. 

ARGUMENT OF BOOK I. 

Address to Albion, Caledonia, Erin, and the foes cf 
JSrttaln — charge of the gemus of England to Nelson — he obeys 
ihe charge — description of the morning, and of his fleet leaving 
England — morning of the battle — Fllleneuve commander In. 
thief of the combined fleets- — his character-^-he ranges ihe 
French and Spanish ships alternately — General D' Ignatla 
D^Alava, In the Santa Anna leads the van — the Bucentauruf 
eommanded by Vtlleneuve comes In the centre — Don Baltazar 
Clsner OS follows , In the Santlsslma Trtnldada — ihe third squad' 
ton led by rear Admiral Dumanolr-^the rear division ap» 
proaches In itoo squadrons ; one of which Is commanded bif 
D* Frederko Gravlna ; the other b^ rear Admiral Magotif 
who fell In ihe battle — ominous appearances at their setting 
fail — the whole fleet approaches, ranged for battle. In the form 
of a crescent — the Britons mark their approach with joy-^ 
ihe command given to clear the decks — feelings of the sailors-^ 
speech of Nelson — he divides his fleet into two columns, to 
penetrate the enemies line : — the first led by himself In the 
Victory, followed by the Temeralre — Neptune — Conqueror-^ 
Jjcvlathan — ^Jax — Orion — Agamemnon — Minotaur — Spar" 
Hate — Britannia — j^frlca. ....... Second division led by Admiral 

CoUlngwood in the Royal Sovereign— followed by the Mars-^ 
Belleisle — Tonnani — Bellerophon — Colossus — Achilles — Poly* 

pheme — Revenge — Swlftsure-^Defence Thundinr^^Defi" 

mcp*^Frm€-^Dreadn9ught******»'Jrigatci» 



im fL* \ > i i w III m ill ■ III wiii u w<Eg»k 



BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 

AN 

HEROIC TOSld, 



BOOK I. 



W HAT flags tow*streaming o'er the murtnurmg deep, 
la mournful triumph, bid Britannia weep ? 
What sounds of sorrow reach the listening shore ? 
** Mourn, Albion, mourn, thy Nelson is no more ! 
While grief and joy their tides alternate roll, 5 

In rapid eddies, o'er thy troiJbled soul ; 
With tearful smiles, thy blushing laurels view, 
Bedropped with blood, and twined with funeral yew,; 
The hard-earned trophies from Iberia won, 
Or torn from Galha, by thy bravest son. 10 

Let Caledonia robed in «able vest, 
Her locks loose-floating o'er her throbbing breast, 
In all the sweet solemnity of woe, 
Bid the sad dirge in weeping numjjers flow ; 
a2 



V BATTLE OF 

'Till hiil, and vale, and rock, and echoing dell 15 

Resound the wild-notes of the deep-toned shell, 

In hollow cadence to thy wild-wave's roar, 

•* Mourn, Britain, mourn ! thy Nelson is no more !" 

Thou too, gi'een Erin ! join the plaintive lay. 
And mourn, with me, Trafalgar's fatal day: 20 

Touched with the sacred sympathy of song. 
High on thy beetling clijBFs the dirge prolong ; 
Pour thy lorn sorrows on the sighing gale, 
And let thy thrilling harp repeat the tale ; 
While tears, fast-gushing "from their copious springs, 25 
In trembling radiance glisten on the strings ; 
Waft the sad strain around thy emerald shore, 
'1 Nelson the brave, the mighty is no more !'' 

But ye, protid foes of Britain ! loud rejoice. 
Rise from defeat, and lift th' exulting voice : 30 

The prince of ocean, Albion's brightest star, 
Bronte's dread lord, that thunderbolt of war, (1) 
Whose haughty ship, with blazing flag unfurled, 
Bore Britain's glory round the subject world. 
With storm and battle shook each hostile shore ; 35 
Nelson, your scourge, your terror is no more ! 

But, with your triumph, fame's loud trump shall tell. 
The hero more than conquered when he fell j' 
Deep In the waves, your navies he entombed. 
Your glory blasted, and your strength consumed. 4-0 



TRAFALGAR,. 7 

*< Go, my brave son !'* Britannia's genius cried,. 
*< As thou art wont, with conquest by thy side, 
<* Go, like thyself, in matchless valour strong, 
** My foe to punish, and avenge my w^rong ; 
«* As erst, when France, atNile's affrighted Hood, (2) 45 
** Tinged the blue billow with her children's blood, 
" Beneath thy conquering standard shrunk dismayed,. 
" And, at thy feet, tri-coloured trophies laid i 
" Or, when the Baltic, round his winding shore, (3) 
" Heard the dread voice of Britain's thunder roar ; 50' 
" Pale Scandia sunk with deeply-troubled groan, 
" Fearful and trembling' on her sea-girt throne^ 
«' Anon she shrieked in frenzy and despair, 
<* Beat her white breast, and tore her golden hair ; 
« While thy bold squadron winged the iron sleet (4) 55 
<« That smote her ranks, and swept her widowed street, 
<< Go, my brave son f where'er thsu meet'st the foe, 
« There, let careering fires of vengeance glow ; 
<* High o'er the billow lift thy awful form,- 
" Clad in. the gathering terrors of the storm : GO 

« With dauntless might the van of battle lead, 
« And death or triumph be thy noble meed."^ 

He heard obedient ; — to the rising gale 
Unfurled his banner, stretched the sinuous sail j 
And o'er the billow towered his awful form, S5 

Clad in the gathering' terrors of the storm j 



0^' BTATTLE 6t 

The foamy surge, wfth winged spee3j he swecj?H, 
And Eng-land's jbrayers attend him o'er the deeps. 

Fair from her ruby throne, with I'oseate smilest 
The morn in glory clothed the sparkling isles ; 79 

Light o*er the billow's glassy concaves rolled 
The playful radiance of her iiuid gold ; 
The silvery surges d^ank the purple day^r 
And rainbow-colours tinged the dashing spray; 
The milk-white foam along the pebbly strand 7S 

Danced on the surf,> or fringed the ru«tling sand-; 
While round and round the sportive sea-fowl flev^ 
Or dipped their plumage in the briny dew^ 
The silken pendants from the tow'ring mast. 
Streamed o'er the wave, and wantoned in the blast ; 8(J* 
The furrowing keels the sounding ocean plowed. 
With sailors' cries the cliffs re-echoed loud. 

Britannia viewed the scene with conscious jind«> 
And hailed her castled bulwarks on the tide : 
But Victory's heart was thrilled with joy and J>ain, SS 
Her soul prdph^tic saiv her Nelsoh slaiii ; 
,Her helm unbound, lier tresses ivooed the ■wrihd— 
The laurel wreath her rosy fingers twined 
Was washed with feats— -and Avhife she hailed li^r chilif , 
iShe fondly Smiled, and ^ej)t— -arid wept, and ^iriiled. ^ 

Th* unconscious sailors sung their Nelson's name, (5) 
Fraud of tbeir^cliief, aad glorying, ialiis fame ; 



TRAFALCTAR. 9 

Rocked by rude whirlwinds in his infant bed^ 

Nxirsed by rough danger, and to battle bred, 

Inspiring fame to glory bade him steer, ^5 

And conquest foHowed in his bright career ; 

Each nobler virtue in his soul they scan 

That forms the hero, or adorns the man : 

In peace, like zephyr, that at noon-tide hour, 

Sips the inild fragrance of the Vernal flower ; IQD 

In war, impetuous as the bolt of heaven 

Winged with red blazes, and in vengeance dirivenr 

What blasting lightnings from his angry eye. 

Devour the foe, and make the valiant fly ! 

His form, his looks, his actions, all inspire 105 

The warrior's thirst of famei the hero's soul of fire : 

With ardent flame they burn to prove the fight, 

And humble Spain beneath Britannia's might. 

But.Spain, the fKJtim of a just dismay. 
With GaHia's squadrbns safe at anchor lay; II€^ 

While Briton*s lions raged around the mainj 
And Erin's wolf-dogs claimed the fight in vain, (6) ^- 
Insulting France^ — with.alT her scornful' boasts, ' 
A slave, imprisoned an her blood-stained coasts; 

At length Trafalgar's fatal mohi arose, 115 

That morn disastrous to Britannia's foes. 

When France and Spain, with, potent fleets combined, 
Th^r sails expanded to the favouring wind j- 



10 »ATTL« OF 

Fondly they Hoped, in exultation brav^,- 
Superior force must triumph on the wave } 1^0 

That Britain's sons would yield a glorious day, 
An easy conquest, and a noble prey : 
Vain thought ; — that British prowess e'er would yield- 
To ten-fold mimbcrs on the watery field F 

. O'er tJie long pomp of all^tfieirnaval bandb, 12^' 
IB^rave Villeneuve extends his high co'mman<is ; 
A skilful chief, by long experience taught^ 
Fired with high courage, and a pride of thought ; 
He saw rich conquest on Britannia's smile. 
When Bronte thundered on the shores of Nile : 130^" 
E«capcd that dreadful day, before the gale> (:7y 
In one swift ship, he spreads the flying sail 
With vaid attempt ;-*-for o'er the azure fields, 
Britain pursues him, and the hero yields. 
When peace returriing smiled on Albion's short, t$& 
She gave the captive to his friends once moffc t 
Again he mingles in the war's alarms^ 
And comes to prove his country's might in arm^^^ 
Oft had his soul revolved with prudent care^ 
The various chances of the dubious war, 14f0* 

And now with sapient thought, and sage design, 
He plans the A^af j and artris the hostile line j. 
Ranging, alternate, as the Ueets advance, 
Spain's warlike vessels with the prows of France, 
That each may each, by great example, fire 14'5 

To valiant deeds—to conqu-er or expire. 



Hanged m tRe van, three lofty squadrons helm, (8^ 
'Their course resounding,.^hrough the liquid realm ; 
'iRound their black sides the whitening surges roar, 
And stern defiance loM'erB on every jrore. 15® 

First "brave D'^laya to the contest came, 
sUrged by fallacious hopes of glorious fame.: 
'The sainted Anna, at his high controul. 
With seven dark vessels, bids her thunders roll, 
5^ated, that day, to see her country's pride 1 5^ 

^Destroyed, and blasted on the whelming tide. 

With Viljeneuve, the central squadron sweeps, 
The Bucentaurus bears him o'er the deeps ; 
iHigh on her poop, wide streaming from afar. 
Wave the proud flags of France, and bring the war. 160 
Amid his warlike bands the chief is seen, 
;^earl£S3 and brave, and dreadfully serene ; 
Rapt in deep.thought, he, meditates the blow, 
.And hurW tempestuousbattle on the foe. 
llfo.w roused by cheering hope, though, blindand vain, J 65 
Immortal laurelsinthe strife to gain. 
He fires each heart to deeds of de^athless fame 
With thrilling accent, and with words of flame. 

Next o'er the deep huige Trinidada rode i 
Old ocean groaned beneath th* enormous load j 170 
In four long tiers her fierce artillery raised, 
Row above row, in horrid" grandeur blaaed| 



If BATTLE OF 

And twice eight hundred gallant souls, who knew 
Each art of naval war, composed the crew ; 
Their firm allies, five -hundred soldiers sail, 175 

High from the tops to wing the lestden hail. 

Her tower-like strength, the great Baltazar guides 
With seven stout vessels through the foamy tides. 

That squadron last, in frowning pride succeeds, 
Which Dumanoir with martial glory leads ; 1 80 

One of the few who plowed the homeward wave, 
Escaped from ruin, and a watery grave ; 
'Eight floating bulvrarks armed in dire array, 
Eager for action, own hi^ potent sway. 

These led the van :— the rear, in valour strong, 185 
In two high-bounding squadrons roars along : 
Twice four black ships each warlike squadron form ; 
With one Gravina brings the ruthless storm ; 
High, on th' Asturia's Prince, his banner plays, 
From six-score guns he drives the raging blaze: 19d 
Prepared for fight, twelve hundred sailors stand 
Firm at their post, and wait his high command. 

The last tall squadron gallant Magoa led, 
Illustrious chief now numbered with the dead ! 
For France that day, the hero's art he tried, 195 

And like ^ her^ in the gonflict died. 



TRAFALGAR. 13 

Thus armed product for war, the fleets of Spain, 
With Gallia's navies, cleft the liquid plain : 
As from Iberia's lessening shores they passed. 
Low, hollow sounds came sighing in the blast; 200 
With strange and silent fires the billows gleamed. 
Perched on his rock the ravenous vulture screamed ; 
With sharpened beak the swift-winged eagle scowled. 
Round the bleak cliffs the hungry sea-dogs prowled, 
dose in tlie wake of each phosphoric keel, 205 

The monsters of the deep, In many a wheel, 
With famished sharks, quick-darting, seemed to play, 
"C raunched their fell jaws, and snuffedtheircomingpreyj (9) 
While proudly riding through the snow-ridged seas. 
Impelled by fate malignant, in the breeze 210 

Swelled the majestic sail: in horrid pride. 
Frown the black tiers on every hostile side ; 
** Horned like the crescent moon," th' embattled fleet, 
Sweeps on, with desperate force, the British arms to greet. 

With eagle eye, rejoiced the Britons spied, 215 

The masts* tall forest rising o'er the tide : 
With hearts elate they stretched the swelling sail, 
Crowded each yard, invoked the favouring gale. 
Swift o'er the deep with winged speed they flew. 
And nearer now the frowning squadrons drew. 220 

** Quick, clear the decks," the shrill voiced boatswain crics> 
<* Quigk, clear the decks," each hollow ship replies. 
t 



^4 BATTLE OF 

^Hie- dread coiiimand comes tingling on the ear, ( 10) 

Pale grows each cheek, with strange unwonted fear : 

All stand a moment, lost in fixed amaze, 225 

'In awful silence, and unconscious gaze : 

Their homes, their wivcs^ their children force a sigh 

Choaked in the breath — and then — they dare to die. 

The4ove of glory triumphs in the heart. 

And each resolves tc play the hero's part. ^^30 

*« Quick, clear the decks," again the boatswain ricgs, 
Ouick to his post each nimble sailor springs — 
The cabin's thin partitions roll aside, 
And clear from stem to stern, the area wide ; 
Primed are the guns, and every captain stands 2^5 

Firm at his post, to cheer his, warlike bands. 

While some in words their gallant crews lin spire. 
Incite to action, fan their rising fire.; 
Light o'er the curling surges,. others bcand, (il) 
To the shrill fife's, and drum^s, and trumpet's sound j 240 
And rise elate, in conscious glory brave, 
To the bold ode, — " Britannia rules the wave :" 
For music's voice the icy bosom warms. 
Strings the lax nerve, and fires the weak ^o arms. 

Then, Bronte thus addressed his warlike crew : 245 
His speech was nervous, though his words were few,; 
<^ Guardians of England ! hail th' auspisious hour, 
** To crush, and blast her foes' UQJted power^ 



TRAFALGAR. 



la 



«* To you she trirjts her high, her sacred cause, 
^<Her rights, her fortunes, hbertius, -and laws ; 250 
« With dauntless valour, to the contest spring, 
f For Albion's glory., for your God, and king ; 
<* Crown England's hopes ;-^at her inspiring call, 
** Like Britons conquer, or like Britons fall." 

With potent' eloquence his accents roll, 255 

And breatlife through all his own undaunted soul, 
Eac?h bosom beats with generous ardour high, 
Impetudus courage sparkles ifi each eyfe > 
Clad in new terrors every British tar, 
With valour's frenzy maddens for the war. 260 

Their chief, long versed in war's destructive lore. 
With matchless wisdom ranged each warlike prore : 
The foe's design with sage experience scanned, 
And the bright road to glorious triumph planned. 
Then every ship her flag of death displayed ; ^65 

In two long columns terribly arrayed, 
With adverse prows, they cleave the struggling brine, 
To meet the foe, and break the dreadful line. 

What haughty ships, celestial muse ! disclose, 
Bore Britain's thunder on the vaunting foes, 270 

Broke through the line, and foiled their battle's plan ? 

The- Victory first came tow'ring in the van j 
The ship that bore, in all her gallant pride, 
The Lord <?f Broate Q'er the purpktide^ 



1^ fiATTLS OF 

High on her pi*ow, as panting for the strife, ^It 

A wanior vifgin breathed in mimic hfe : 

Round her bright helm the laurel trophies twined. 

Shaded her brow and danced upon the wind ; 

Warm on her cheek the fires of glory glowed'; 

Round her strong spear the crimson currer.t flowed ; 2SfO 

Anon, she seemed to strike her battered shield, 

And call her dauntless Britons to the field. 

Ranged by their guns her dauntless Britons stood> 

Panting for glory, breathing death and blood ; 

Well were they skilled in war's tremendous art, 285 

And every sailor bore a hero's heart : 

Pierce from their blasting guns they longed to aim, 

The storm of vengeance in devouring ftatiie— 

Then came the Teniera!ire tc^th rapid bound ; 
On the French foe her dire artillery frowned, 2^ 

In rebel hatred — For in battle's chance, 
Britain had torn her from the power of France ; 
And now against her native land she bore 
The rattling tempest, and the thunder's roar. 

The Neptune followed, and the watery god, 295 
Proud on her bow, terrific seemed to nod ; 
Awed the high billow with his angry look, 
At boastful France th' indignant trident shook, 
And roared m thunder to th^ pride of Spain, 
<* Britannia rlihrvfitK nie— tht' etnjjf ess of the main.' ' SCO 



TRAFALGAR. 



17 



Next the stern Conqueror cleft the yielding flood ; 
Oft had her decks been drenched in waves of blood ; 
The Norman William at her bowsprit shone, (12) 
And seemed to lead his British warriors on ; 
As when he led their marshalled liosts of yore, 305 

To crush the insurgents on the Norman shore ; 
Grimly he frowned, in giant grandeur strong, 
Reared his helmed head, and sternly stalked along ; 
His potent hand th' elastic bow extends. 
No arm but his the stubborn yew-tree bends > 310 

Th* impatient arrow quivers on the string, 
And longs iiv Gallic blood to dip its wing. 

Then huge Leviathan, in strong array. 
Rolled on, unwieldly, o'er the watery way — 
So the vast whale, dread monarch of the tides, 315 

Tempests the deep, and o'er the billow rides :. 
The flashing surges circling round his back, 
Boil as he moves, and mark his hoary track : (13) 
With spouting floods, he shakes his wide domain, 
And sports through torrents of the briny rain j 320 

His dread approach the finny nations view, 
Porpoise, and dolphin of celestial hue, 
Own his tremendous sway with shuddering awe. 
And dart im^petuous from his ravenous jaw. 

The favouring gales the lofty Ajax urge, 325 

Marching to battle, through the sounding sur^e : 
b2 



lis BATTLE OF 

Her giant ^^aT^or, clothed in shining arms, (HJ 
Hastes, with long strides, to meet tlie war's alarms r- 
Ferocious, direful, panting to destroy — 
As when his ai-m repelled the force of Troy ; SSO 

What time great Hector with destructive aim, 
Rolled on the fleets of Greece the bickering flame ; 
Swift in his brawny hand he swings around 
A dreadful mace, with studs of iron bound. 
Formed for the naval conflict, rough, and strong, 335 
Knotty, and dense, and twice ten cubits long ; 
With grissly smiles of death he grimly lowered 
Defied the foe, and to the battle towered. 

Th' Orion next the surges seemed to plow, {15} 
With storms and tempests on her golden prow, 34(J 
Collecting strength, in fury soon to rise, 
Sweep through the heavens^and rend the vaulted skies. 
And drive resistless on the hostiie fleet, 
Commingling hail, and fire, and rattling sleet. 

Then Agamemnon to the conflict came — (16) 315 
Proud of his strength, exulting in his name, 
Tlie king of men upreared his fourfold crest. 
Bright flashed the burnished cuirass on his breast ; 
Firmly he strode before his warrior band?, 
Shook the keen javelin's lightning in his hands ; 350 
To nobler triumphs led his British host?. 
Than ever graced his unns on Phrygians coast'. 



Stout Minotaurus scudding swift behind, (IV)- 
Her canvass pinions stretched before the wind : 
On her sharp prow the dubious beast was seen, 35& 
The monstrous offspring of the histful queen. 
He grinds lik teeth, in ftre his eye-ball rolls^ 
As when he marked the seven devoted souU : 
From his wide nostrils pours the scorching blast,. 
And snorts impatient for the dire repast. 360t 

At France he darts his furious glance from far. 
And longs to mingle in the bloody war.. 

A fair Laconiati armed for warlike deeds, ( 18}> 
Breathing dismay, the bounding Spartiate leads ; 
Light on her shoulders hung the quivered store, 565- 
High in her hand the bended bow she bore y 
Her massy helm, of many a ductile fold, 
Shed o'er the waves the gleam of polished gold :■ 
Keen for the fight — she flies with speed divine. 
Nor dips her golden bliskins in the brine ;. 370^ 

Like the fierce Amazon, or Volscian maid. 
Clothed in bright steel — in dreadful charm« arrayed^. 
She strikes her raoony-buckler — shakes her lance, 
And hurls defiance at the fleets of France, 

In awe-commanding power Britannia rides, $7S 

With red-cross banner o*er her vassal tides ; 
Bright on her crest the star of Scctland shone,. 
Girt was her breast with £riu*8 emerald zone ;■ 



SO' BATTLE 0-F 

Her left hand grasped her shield, and in her i-ight, 
The glittering faulchion thirsted for the fight : 380 
She seemed to look exulting o'er the wave, 
Proud of her strength, and say — " To arms, ye brave.*' 

Last of' the column, o^er the billows rolled. 
The ^vcll-armed force of Africa the bold:- 
The jetty goddess of the burning sands, 38^5 

With sharp-ed^ed- sabre ~ flashing in her hands, 
Frov^rned at the head, and panting to engage. 
Rolled her keen eye, and kindled all herrage^: 
Beneath her feet the scutcheoned trophies lay, 
Borne by the British from Aboukir's bay : S90 

With that famed standard, Gallia's highest boast, (19)« 
Pride of her arms, a:nd glory of her host, 
That stormed the dreadful pass at Lodi's bridge, 
And waved in fire o'er many an Alpine ridge. 
And still had triumphed in the bloody toil, 395 

''Till met by Britain, on th' Egyptian soil ; 
Its glories fell — with all its guardian traiii, 
Ne'er deemed, 'till then. Invincible, in vain^ 

These led by Nelson, Hero of the fleet, 
Haste the North wing of Villeneuve to meet. 4^ 

The next long line in war's dread pomp attired, 
Th' intrepid soul of Collingwood inspired ; 
With well-tried skill he stemmed the ocean's rage, 
III battle ardent, and in council sage j 



TRArALGAR.- 2 J 

Fame'^s radient glories kindled on his sword, 405; 

And friendship bound his soul to Bronte's lord. 
The Royal Sovereign, spreading wide alarms* 
Bears him, exulting, to the strife of arms t 
In awful pride her streaming peri'dantfe fly^ 
Of crimson, green, and heaven's ethereal dfe ;- 4^V0 

Ensigns, the boast of every British knight, (2fO) 
Denouncing rueful fate, and deadly fight ; 
Her brazen tiers in blackening terrors frown^ 
To spread the glories of Britannia's crown ; 
H^r sacred rights a host of warriors guard, 415 

Their monarch's praise, their hope 'y his love^ their great 
reward.. 

Next o'er the surge, the "Mars proud-nodding camc> 
With latent fury, and a slumbering flame; 
Her gallant captain as the decks he trodj- 
Appeared himself the battle-ruling god ; 4>2(P 

Brave Duff, his country's ornament and pride^. 
Who for her glory lived, and nobly died.. 

A grim BelFona, witH terrific smile^ 
Panting for battle, leads the stern Bellisle r 
A statelier vessel, or a crew more brave, 4^S' 

Ne'er met the foe-,^ nor plowed' the hostile wave. 
That day, amid the blazing fight she raged j 
With many a foe th' unequal combat waged ; 
And though fell ruin, with repeated blasts, 
Swept Her torn decks, and rent her crackling masts, ^tO^ 



WI, BATTLE Of 

O'er France she triumphed, and victorious "bore' 
HercriiTlsoncd laurels to Britannia's shore* 

Then came the Tonnant through the keel-cleft tidey> 
With close-pent thunders on her pitchy side, 
Eager to burst their prisons' dismal gloom, 435- 

Heralds of woe, and many a hero's doortu^ 

Swift through her foamy wake, with triple tiers, ^ 
And aspect fierce, Bellerophon careers ; 
Fated to see, by heaven's imperial call,^ 
Her valued Cooke, her brave commander, fall : 4!'i\^ 

Illustrious kinsman of the Cooke whose gore. 
Dyed the cursed corals of Owyhee's shore. 



} 



Then huge Col6ssu§ through the billows T6de- 
In more thah mortal grandeur proudly strode 
Th' enormous image of her archer god ; (21) 445 
Not as he blazed at Rhodes with friendly light, 
To guide the wanderer through the shades of night: 
But indignation lightened in his eye,- 
Bent his dread bow, and bade his quiver fiy \ 
As when h$ saw his darling son expire,- 450 

Struck by the bolt of Jove's tremendous ire ; 
Maddening with rage, he grasped th' envenomed darts. 
And shot them furious at the Cyclops' hearts. 

Next fierce Achilles, o'er the azure field, 
3-4 fts the broad splendour of th' immortal shield j 45r5 



■TRAFALGAR. -2^ 

Sheathfdin refulgeirt panoply divine, 

He moves in flames along the glancing brine : 

So stern, so ruthless, so athirst for blood, 

He strode to battle through Scanianders flood; 

With direst rage, implacable he burns, 460 

And all his fury on Iberia turns ; 

Shakes the keen spear before his buoyant car. 

And leads his British myrmidons to war. 

Swift-to the strife of ocean's" heroes came 
Th* intrepid force of mighty Polypheme ; 465 

Dark frowned her imaged Cyclop o'er the deep, (22) 
As once he frowned on rougli Trinacria's steep ; 
When with wild rage he tore the rifted peak, 
And whirled it, erring, at the wandering Greek. 
With surer aim, he whirled the moulded ore, 470 

To prove his might upon a Galhc prore. 

Then follows the Revenge — In fury dread, 
Tisiphone moved raging at the head. 
Girt with her sister-fiends ; and round her'lay. 
The dogs of battle panting for their prey ; 475 

Blew from their arid jaws the sulphurous breath. 
Hot as the blast of hell, replete with death : 
Round her grim visage curl the hissing snakes. 
Clank tlVe dire chains ; the'blazing torch she shakes ; 
Wields the long scorpion-lash, at every bound, 480 
■ An^ shAkes dismay, and rueful horrors round. 



<^4! "BATTLE or 

With foam-girt sides, the nimble S'A'iftsure files, 
Pleet as an eagle cuts the liquid skies, (23) 
When urged by hunger, on the nuu'shalled cranes 
Ke wings his flight ; — -q^uick through the heavenly 

plains, 4?85 

Trembling they ^y; but he, with furious swoop, 
Darts like a whirlwind on the screaniijig troop j 
Pounces, gripes, tears the .unresisting prey ; 
With blood-tinged plumage strews th* ethereal way ; 
With piercing beak the reeking entrails <lraws4 49Q 

And deep in blood imbrues his reiKling claws. 

Dark grows the ambient surge, as rolls along 
The shadowy .black Defence, compact and strong : 
So from the rock, a stately castle lowers 
Armed for a. siege with all its hundred towers, 4:9.3 
Placed on the confines of a warlike land, 
Some potent foe to chasten, or command ; 
Whose glittering legions, rallying from afar, 
Bring fire and sword — the pri<Ie and pomp of war ; 
Secure it stands and all their rage defies ; ^0§ 

^Destruction roars, the vollying thunder ilies ; 
Thinned are the ranks, th' enfeebled legions yield, 
And storms of fire pursue them o*er the field : 
So looks the proud Defence, prepared to rain 
A sulphurous deluge on the. fleets ,of Spain. ^05 

With sounding keel, and wide distended sail, 
Th' imperious Thunderer scuds befoi'e^ the gale ; 



TRAFALGAR. 25 

Stern o'er tKe billows frowned her sculptured Jove, 

As when on Titan's impious host he drove 

The vengeful storm of mingled sleet, and fire, 510 

Winged with resistless speed, and barbed with ire 

Again he shoots the lightning of his glance. 

With withering vengeance, at the sons of France : 

Circled in flame, and spreading wide alarms, 

Red gleams the thunder of th* almighty arms : 515 

Retiring ocean trembles as he nods, 

And owns th* immortal sire of men and gods. 



}: 



The fierce Defiance next to battle steers : 
A fell Erinnys on her prow appears, 
Ruthless as fate, she shakes two shining spears ; 520 
Iberia's flags, and Gallia's floating might. 
She views with scorn, and dares them to the fight. 

The Prince succeeds — ^and on her brazen prow, [^i) 
The noble Edward raised his princely brow,. 
In sable arms he marched, while o'er his head 525 
Bohemia's triple plume its glories shed, 
Soft as the new-formed wreath of Alpine snow, 
White as the feathery surge that foamed below ; 
The sword that widowed France on Cressy's day, 
Again to conquest cuts its wonted way. 530 

Last the dark Dreadnought on the foamy brine, 
Unfurled her flag, and closed th' embattled line ; 
c 



a6 BATTLE OF 

On her sharp beak a sea-born hero stood, 

Like Havvke, or Rodney, or th* illustrious Hood : 

Rapt fancy heard him, as he threatening cried, 535 

Shook the keen faulchion, and the foe defied. — 

*' Let Europe's powers, at mad ambition's call, 

*« Unite their hosts, and Britain meets them all : 

*« Firm as the rocky mounds that gird her shore, 

<« She joys to hear the din of battle roar ; 540 

« With walls of fire, her patriot king surrounds, 

** His cause avenges, and his foes confounds : 

« In wrath she sends her fateful navies forth, 

** Strong, and impetuous as th' infuriate north. 

*• All terrible in war, sublime they move, 545 

« And dare the world, in arras, their force to prove." 

Swift as each column glides in strong array. 
From van to rear their bounding frigates play; (25) 
To waft the chiefs' quick mandates through the fleet, 
With friendly voice the conquered foe to greet j 550 
Th€ labouring ship, with timely aid to save, 
Or snatch the drowning wretches from the ware. 

Here, swift Euryalus alert and bold, 
Near the grim foe displayed her sides of gold ; 
Of mimic gold, whose purple radiance shone, 555 

Through the clear azure, in a ghttering zone : 
Her crimson banners, there, the Sirius raised, 
And o'er the gleaming surge respleadent blazed ; 



TRAFALGAR. 27 

prepared to lance the fatal bolt* of war, 

tike the keen shafts of that malignant star, 560 

Whose name she bore, when all his arrows fly, 

In wasting ruin from the angry sky. 

Bright as the moon*s round orb the Flisebe swims, 
And l<';5t along the wave the ninible Naiad skims, 



»KD OP aOOK VIMT, 



BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 

AN 

HEROIC POEM. 

ARGUMENT OF BOOK II. 



General view of the hostile feet s — thoughts on their afi* 
firoach — firaijer of the poet for the triumph of Britain — a 
calm — Nelson gives the word of battle, and engages the Bu' 
centaur — Colllngwood's division at the same time attacks the 
enemy with great impetuosity — general description ofthehaitle^-^ 
the Temeraire is attacked and hoarded hy two of the enemy's 
ships — Alfred, a British youth, performs many acts ofdis' 
tinguished valour — his history — is slain — the Britons repulsa 
the foe — Villeneuve strikes his colours^ — ihe Achilles is blown. 
Up — the Victory attacks the Santissima Trinidada — they are 
lashed together — while the artillery play furiously below, the 
sharp*shooters from the tops cause great destruction among the 
officers — Friendship's advice to Nelson to lay aside the star 
which he wore on his breast — his speech en that occasion — he 
is marked by an experienced sharp-shooter — Palmer, Adair, 
end Scott are slain — Nelson sees their fall with grief — his 
prayer for victory and death — he is mortally wounded — the 
Britons direct all their fury against the tops of the Spanish 
ship — Baltazar strikes his fag — Nelson is informed of hi^ 
comphtf victory over the combined feeU^iu dmth* 
c2 



BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, 



AN 

HEROIC POEMo 

E0OK If. 



A HITS through the d^ep, the marshalled navies steer. 
Fate leads the van, and Havoc joins the rear ; 
The flags of France in martial splendour glow, 
In circuit vast, like heaven's refulgent bow, 
When bending o'er the boundless fields of space, . 5 ' 
The world hangs glistening in its wide embrace ; 
But Briton's squadrons o'er the surges past, 
Like two black clouds before the driving blast, 
When' low, and dense, o'er-shadowing earth, they sail. 
Charged with dark thunder, tempest, fiVe and hail : 10- 
In gorgeons pomp their floating banners stream, 
And like tli' impetuous comet's ruddy gleami 
The ardent fires of contest seem to shed, 
Pouring new glories on each warrior'" ^'^-'*, 



sa- 



BATTLfi 6F 



Such glorious fleets oK Ocean ne'er had seen> I^ 
An-ayed for battle on his realms of green j 
Not such a force the Grecian heroes bore, 
Breathing revenge upon the Trojan shore ; 
Not with such fleets the indignant Romans came, 
To fire the Tyrian tov/ers with raging flame ; 20 

Nor rich Iberia, when her scornful pride 
Launched her Armada on the sounding tide ; 
With vain intent, to pour her mighty hosts 
On Albion's shores — such potent fleets could boast. 
Them heaven's dread storms, and Britain's v/helming 

ire, 25 

Sunk in the deep, or cloathed in vengeful fire. (1) 
Such direful ruin, such inglorious fate, 
On every proud invader's steps await f 
The hour he meets insulted Britain's eyes. 
Her lightnings blast him, and that hour he die?. 30 

Alas f how soon shall all this gallant sight, 
Be wrapt in flames, and death, and lurid nightr 
Ere gloomy darkness spread her ebon wing. 
Or eve her shades upon the waves shall fling. 
The proudest ships that ride the buoyant flood, S5 

Shall sink, entombed, beneath a sea of blood j 
Or burst to pieces in the scorching air. 
With not a fragment left, to tell they were* 
No other morn shall heaven permit to rise. 
On many a French acd British \varrior's eyes j 4© 



TRAFALGAR*- 53 

Tiiiis fatal day shall many a widow mourn, 
Bending in silence o'er her husband's urn ; 
The roee on many a virgin's cheek turn pale, 
And many an orphan sadden at the tale. 

Almighty power ! whose high eternal sway, 4:5 

Conflicting storms and warring floods obey ; 
To none but thee the awful powers belong, 
The weak to strengthen, and confound the strong ; 
To guide the sailor through the boisterous wave, 
To shield in battle, and in tempests save ; 50 

O 'hear my prayer ! display thy guardian power. 
Protect my country in this fateful hour ; 
And if thy righteous sentence has decreed, 
The brave to fall, and Nelson's self to bleed) 
Let Victory come in angel form confest, o5 

To twine her laurels round Britannia's crest. 

Now in mid sky the sun his glory shrouds, 
A^s struck with horror in a night of clouds ; 
The vagrant winds the surge no longer sweep, 
But every breeze lies slumbering on the deep ; 6.0 

No distant fight th' approaching squadrons wage, 
No threatening sound declare their inward rage j 
No fate-gorged cannon pours his fiery breath, 
But all is silent as the sleep of death ; 
And ere each warrior strikes the menaced blow, €S 
His heart beats feeble^- and his pulse moves §low. 



u 



BATTLE OF 



But now with half-furled sails the Victory steers, 
Near the Bucentaur's black terrific tiers ; 
Each frowns at each, with stern infuriate hate, 
Horror, and death upon their frowns await :— . 70 

Tremendous pause ! — 'till Bronte's mighty lord, 
'* For God and England" — gives the battle-word,. 
Quick as the word the nimble lightning runs 
Along the deck, and fires the volleying guns. 
Then on mad wing the loosened thunder soars, 75 

Then scowling Fury through the battle roars. 
Then from th' abyss remorseless Discord springs, 
Storming so loud that heaven's high concave rings ; 
Girt with grim Terror, Rage, and pale Affright, 
Around her head she rolls a sudden night, 60 

Wide o'er th* encountering fleets her pinions spreads, 
Rouses her demons from their brimstone beds. 
Loud on the fiends of death, and havoc cries. 
And bids the spirits of th' accursed arise. 

While here, great Bronte urged the growing fight, 85 
The Sovereign's hero thundered on the right, 
Through the strong Anna's ribs of jointed oak, 
With furious crash his rapid broadsides broke. 
The Mars and Duff involved in smoke and flame, 
Swift through the line with hideous ruin came ; 90 

So poets paint the ruthless god of war. 
Rolled by Bellona in her iron car, 
While the blue lightnings glare around his head,. 
The groaning axle mounts o'er hills of dead,. 



TRAFALGAR. 35 

Atid raging furies, in immortal speed, 95 

LasJi with their snakes each fiery-footed steed. 

The Swiftsure here with devastating swoop, 

Poured her dire batteries on a Spanish poop, 

From stern to stem the sweeping fury tore, 

Raked the long decks, and marked its path with gore. 100 

Lo ! fierce Bellerophon and Cooke advance. 

Rolling red vengeance on the prows of France ; 

Ah ! see — ^the hero falls by glory's fires, 

And in the blaze of victory expires ! 

Th* Orion, there, upon the prows of Spain^ 105 

Drives the dense tempest of her iron rain. 

Her loud artillery great Britannia plays, 

And Spaitiate rolls the sanguinary blaze : 

Here, two Achilles met with equal rage, 

And there, three Neptunes in the strife engage; 1 10 

Above, below, their strong-chained globes are hurled. 

Their prize the empire of the wateiy world. 

The dauntless Hero thunders on the flood ; 

The stern Leander rides o'er waves of blood. 

Night rolls — fires flash — ^the imps of darkness yell, 115 

While Gallic Pluto comes with " blasts from hell,*' 

And Britain's Thunderer darts her bolts around, 

Smites the proud foe, and shakes the deep profouud ; 

As if th' immortals, who on Phrygia*s soil (2) 

Waged dreadful fight, resumed the glorious toil ; 120 

Arms clash on arms, the gods the gods oppose. 

And earth, and heaven in charge of battle close* 



36 BATTLE OF 

With rapid fires' the reddening billows gloWi 
Till each brare vessel grapples with her foe ; 
Loud roars the strife, and fell destruction sweeps, 123 
With rage- unbridled- o'er.'tke bellowing 4eeps : 
Dense clouds of nitrous smoke obscure the day, 
IThick, and more thicjc the forky lightnings play : 
Peals upon peals, and peals redeubling roll, 
'Till ocean trembles to the utmost pole'.; .130 

Such hideous din convulsed the Stygian cdasts. 
Roared through th' abyss, appalled the startling ghosts. 
When gloomy Dis the loud alarum rung, 
And pale witK rage, and mingled terror sprung. 
As o'er his head earth's flint-ribbed barriers shook, 135 
And HelPs foundations^ tremHed at his look, 
Lest he whose trident shakes the earth and main^ 
S-hould burst the convex of his dre-ar domain, 
Pierce the deep centre of the world unknown, 
And pour heaven's light around th' infernal throne. 1-40 
'*Or as all hell, with congregated might. 
Had rushed rebellious -to- the realms of light. 
Their adamantine chains asunder riven. 
And marched in arms to storm. 4:he towers of heaven ; 
While the bright legions of -th* eternal king, I-IS 

Cam* sallying foFth iipon-thc thunder's wing, 
Rolling before them, with impetuous ire, 
Huge surging billows of devouring fire, 
'Till now both hosts swift-rushing from afar, 
iStopt short—ia horrid shock— then roared the war. 150 



TRAFAl^GAH. 37 

Tlirough Ether's champaign fearful chaos spread, 
Wild Ruin stormed, and Nature shrunk with dread. 
Hell groaned beneath, as Light with Darkness strove. 
And rocked heaven's crystal battlements above. 

'Now every ship with all her powers engaged, 155 
And now the hottest of the battle raged ; 
At each discharge the staggering fleets recoiled, 
Blood-torrents flowed — the crimsoned surges boiled ; 
Each hero strove, as if his single might 
Would gain th' immortal trophies of the fight ; 160 
While o'er his head the warrior Thunder strode. 
And Fate on every ball triumphant rode. 

What fell confusion roars along the sky ! 
Masts, yards, and beams in splintery fragments fly ; 
Loud groans each shattered hulk — the timbers start-^- 165 
Bolls spring — ribs shiver — and the planks dispart ~- 
With many a gaping wound the sides are gored — 
The shrouds are mangled — thundering by the board. 
Crashes th' unwieldy mast — " On, on ye brave ! (3) 
" With maddening horrors let the tempest rave, 
" For George and England, glory, or the grave 



(iv 

170 V- 
!" J, 



By many a various fate the warrior falls, 
Mid storms of fire, and showers of whistling balls : 
While one with out-stretched arm exhorts his band, 
A viewless fury lops th' unconscious hand ; 175 

Aghast he looks with ^orror and surprise ! 
Another fury rends his fractured thighs : 

D 



38 BATTLI- OF 

A second, while he mounts the tottering mast, 

Struck bjr the v/hizzing ball's resistless blast, 

Groans out'his troubled soal ; — a third is borne, 189 

Far o'er the surge, in many a fragment torn. 

One on the giddy top's aerial round, 

Deep in his temples feels the deadly wound, 

While V )th (i?f ed eye he marks the distant foe — 

Lifts the bright tube, and aims th* avenging blow ; 18i 

In death his fingers press tV elastic springs, 

And as he falls, th' exploding.musket rings, 

Another tumbles on the mounds of dead, 

Struck in the jieck* ?ind shortened by the head ; 

The trunk with hollow echo falls supine ; 190 

Starts the hqt. marrow from the fractured spine ; (4') 

And round. the slippery deck, with ghastly gUre, 

The. roiling visage trails the clotted hair. 

Thus fall th' ins4tiate fees by mutual wounds. 
With dying groans each hollo,w vessel sounds, 195 

The decks are thick bestrewn with heaps of slain. 
Torn limbs, and shattered bones, and reeking brain : 
Death stridejs froin ship to ship with sweeping .scythe j 
On ever)' poop damned fiends of murder wnthe. 
Demons of carnage ride th* empurpled flood, 200 

Champ their fell jaws, and quaff the streaming bloo^. 
Hard were the task to sing their valiant deeds ; 
H®w Britain conquers, how the battle bleeds : 
Not all the grandeur of the Theban lyre. 
Nor Milton's "harp, nor Homer's muse of ^re# '205 



Could' match the theme :— but truth' in simple vest,- 
From one bold action bids us learn the rest. 

Amid the thickest fight the Temeraire, 
Raged as if Nelson's mighty soul were there ; 
From all her batteries rained the vollled sleet, 210" 

Bursts through the French, and raked the Spanish fleet. 
When, chance so orders — two vindictive foes. 
Sure of their prey, the reeling ship enclose ;" 
The thundering might of Spain on that side roars, 
And France on this, her blazing vengeance pours ; 2l^ 
Till side by side a conquering blow to strike, 
Each boarder firmly grasps his thirsty pike j 
They storm the gunnels^ on the deck they spring,- 
While hell-bom Murder claps His raven wing ; 
In grim delight he wields the girding sword, 220 

Towers at their head, and bids hit warriors board V 
Ranged back to Back the Britons meet the shock,. 
Gloomy as fate, and stable as^the rock^ 
Hot grows the toil along the bloody van,. 
Where swordhacksswordi-and man encounters man ; 225 
Gasping on heaps of slain th* invader lies; 
Sad o'er the deek resorund his dying cries^ 
In many a deep, and mingling current runs 
The blood of France, and Spain's and Britain's sbiie. 

First in the conflict, with tempestuous-force, 2$0 
A youth of Britain urged his fateful coarse ; 



\ 



40 BATTLE OF 



Dark on his shacled brow sat grim Despair, 
Gleamed in his eye, and tossed his bushy hair ; 
Long had his bosom throbbed with love's alarms, 
And felt the matchless power of Ellen's charms ; 2S5 
For Ellen shone with every varying grace, 
And potent beauty o'er her form and face 
Shed the sweet magic, that with guileless art, 
Trills every cord that binds the lover's heart. 
Nor long against his pleasing suit she strove, 240- 

But. owned his iafluence, and coafessed her love. 
And now the nuptial morn appointed shone. 
To bless their mutual vows, and make them one : 
The blushing virgin clothed in charms divine, 
With fluttering heart approached tl^ holy shrine : 345 
■When Fame, in sorrow, brought the dreadful Uuth, 
That some false fair engaged the fickle youth ; 
Deep through her gentle soul cold hor»or ran, 
Yet her meek tongue no curses poured on man ; 
She wished for death — but heaven denied the boon, 250 
And wrapped in Frenzy's shades her mental noon : 
The beauteous maniac fled the haunts of men, 
Traced the ^ea-beach, or sought the lonely glen,. 

He, easy tvictim of. a. slanderous tale., 
Cursed his hard fate, and fled his native vale ; 255 

Deep to his soul Remorse impelled her* dart, 
Twined her fdl vipers round a wounded heart, 



TRAFALGAR. 



41 



And spurred him forward, on his country's foe, 

To seek in death — a refuge from his woe. 

But long he sought in vain ;— the trenchant blade, 26^ 

Rou.id his loose wrist in flaming circles played 

Like vengeful lightning, burst the dense array. 

Mowed down the foe, and hewed resistless way* 

First stout Alcanzor, from the shores of Spain, 

Felt the keen fury in his spoutfng brain. ^6S 

Long had he joyed in battle's loud al'arm, 

Firm was his heart, and valour strung his arm ; 

But Superstition, still to reason blind, 

With iron sceptre ruled his darkened mind ; 

Bravely he dared the British foe to meet, 270 

Fired by the dictates of a holy cheat— 

« That heaven wdWd grant his arms the laurel crown, 

** And bind his brow with triumph and renown l" 

But Alfred's driving steel their virtue tried. 

And showed his country that the prophet lied. 275 

Then fell young Valmont from the bank: of Seine; 
Fair was his face and faultless as his mein ; 
But better was he skilled to please the fair. 
Than mix with heroes in the bristly war. 
Joined to the ranks of Spain, with proud desire, 280 
He raised the tube to aim his missile fire ; 
But ere he touched the spring, the British swor4> 
The arm had severed from its trembling lord. 
Swift through the neck a second blow succeeds, 
And low in death the gay Parisian bleeds. 285 

d2 



42 BATTLE OP 

So falls a lily, lept in sportive mood, 

By rod of school-boy sauntering through the wood ; 

His frequent blows the tallest blossoms strike, 

Thistle and wild-rose feel his rage alike j 

With flowery spoils earth's fragrant lap he spreads, 290 

And thinks he lops stout warrior's crested heads. 

Then Carlos fell. — From Tagus' golden sands 
The youth ill-fated led his warlike bands : 
The rending steel deep entering in his side, 
Drew through the opening ribs a gory tide. 295 

Rushing impetuous to his friend's relief, 
A.lonzo marked his fall with rage and grief ; 
.^or virtue's holy laws, and plighted truth, 
' a deathless love had bound him to the youth ; 
Vith keen revenge his ardent bosom burned— SOO 
)uick on the foe his crimson steel he turned. 

Fierce as a lion on Caffraria's sands. 
Whose mate has fallen by the hunter's hands. 
In love's dread season, when the raging flame 
Fires his bold heart, and thrills his sinewy frame ; 305 
'JRobbed of his joy he roars along the plain. 
Winds his long tailj, and shakes his horrent mane ; 
Foam his red eye-ball darts the frequent flash— 
From his wide jaws, his teeth ferocious gnash : . 
On the armed foe he springs with sudden bound, 310 
And both lie ^lain by many a mutual wound. 



TRAFALGAR. 



43 



So fierce Alonzo on the Briton sprung-— 
Their swords struck fire, and loud their death-clash rung ; 
One blade had oft been dyed in Moorish gore, 
One gleamed on Caledonia's hills of yore, 315 

What time, in God's and Freedom's holy cause, 
Wallace and Bruce opposed a tyrant's laws '^ 
In many a rapid fiery whirl tliey move, 
Now shine below, and now they glance above : 
Long in the horrid pastime they delight, 320 

And Victory hovers o'er the doubtful fight. 

At length with gathered strength, upon the foe 
Th' impatient Britain aims a furious blow ; 
Close by the ear the thundering blade descends. 
Swift through the riven jaw a passage rends, S2o 

And glancing edgeways with a keen control. 
Through the gashed windpipe free th' indignant soul. 
But in the instant — at th' unguarded chest, 
Th' Iberian's ha;nd the rapid steel addressed. 
With nervous thrust, and pierced the mortal part, 330 
Where rolls the vital current from the heart ; 
Fasts spouts th' arterial gore-~in death he lies. 
And shades relentless settle on his eyes. 

O ill-starred,youth ! no maiden o'er thy tomb, 
Shall pour her precious tears, or mourn thy doom ; 335 
But oft thy. injured Ellen's faded form. 
Wet with $he dew, andrtrembling in the stortnj 



^'h RATTLE OT 

By the wild margia of the lonely deep,- 

Unconscious of thy fate, shall sit and weep p 

Or oft, as fancy's pleasiog dreams beguile, 

0*er her wan cheek shall steal such mournful smile 3iO* 

As e*en from iron hearts would force a sigh, 

Or draw a tear from stem oppression's eye y 

In geiitlest whispers shall she chide. thy stay,- 

And bid her soul's first joy — her Alfred come away,- 

Thus gallant Alfred in the conflict strove,. S4^ 

And gave to glory what he vowed to love — 
Thus nobly fell — with many a warlike name,. 
Strange to the muses, and unknown to fame,- 

O'er Albion's flag to hoist the ptide of France, 
Thrice to the charge the eager foes advance, 35©= 

Thrice from the decks with backward step t-hey reel, 
Scathed by the lightning of the British- steel. 
Their scattered powers the Britons quick pursue^ 
With, arm of thunder, and in pieces hew* 
So fierce, so terrible they msh idong, SS& 

Armed with dread fate, as heaven's artillery strong, 
Tiat every foe with terror wings his flight, 
Or sinks oppressed in shades of endless night : 
Quick as they flee like lion-hunted deer, 
Deep through the back some feel the deadly spear, 360 
Some, while they grasp their friendly shrouds expire. 
Struck by thfc swQrd; or zvfih pursuing fire ; 



TRAFALGAR^ 4^ 

Hurled in the wave, with spouting rills of gore. 
They mark their downward path, and rise no more, 
While others, ere they reach the flashing tides, 865; 

Are caught and crushed between the jostling sides.. 
Loud shouts of tMumph from the victors rise, (5). 
Roll o'er the main, and echo io the skies* 

While thus the combat rages far and wide,: 
The Victory furious on Bucentaur*s side 370- 

Rained such tremendous force of iron shower^, 
As no terrestial — no created power 
Could long withstand :—^ne horrid broadside sped,, 
And twice two hundred on the decks lay dead : (6} 
Through all her crashing length the vessel feels, 3X5. 
The hurricane of death- — and starts and heels :. 
The guns disroounted by the shattering blow^. 
Roll headlong, thundering, crushing all below— - 
The decks are shivered — every timber shakes- 
Tremble the reeling masts — thebatteredfabric<iuakes. 380' 

Brave Villeneuve, though: oft his dauntless soul. 
Had marked the whirlwindof destruction roll ; 
Ne'er saw such havoc sweep the embattled field. 
As now compelled his stubborn heart to yield. 
For France that day through floods of death and^ore,385: 
The battlers hottest brunt he nobly bore : 
Th* unequal conflict should be longer wage, 
Through impotent despair> and fruitless rage ^ 



4S lATTLE OF 

Another broadside with infuriate sweep, 

Would ¥end and whelm hi« vessel in the deep— SdO' 

His mighty spirit bends to fortune's laws, 

And owns the triumph af Britannia^g cause ; 

But yet with tardy hand to Bronte's lord. 

He strike's his flag, and yields the captive sword. (*7) 

While Gonqucsi here to Britain's standard turned, 395: 
Slern in the fight the French Achilles burned: 
But as her fires with swift destruction flew,. 
Caught by th* unguarded flame, in air she blew : (8), 
From the'-«trong, sides the heaving decks up.torn. 
With fearful burst, on fiery whirlwinds borne, 400 

Far through the regjoais of the blackening sky. 
With booming speed, and deadly ruin fly : 
The glowing timbers shoot portentous glare, 
The wheeled artillery thunder in the air,- 
And mangled victims in the storm expire, 405- 

Whirled to the clouds in mingled smoke and fire.- 
Far o'er the billows glance the sanguine rays. 
Ether's Wide concave reddens with the blaze : 
The hostile fleets with strange concussions reel, 
And heaven and earth the dire explosion feel. 410 

So burning uEtna, with tremendous roat^ 
Rocks on her base, and shakes Sicilians shore. 
Spouts mineral torrents to the molten skies. 
Involved in flame, and spreading. as they rise ;, 



TRAFALGAR. ^7 

While feverish Fancy thinks the Prince of Hell, 4^15 

•Roars in' the blast, and all the damned rebel ; 

The red tornado of the blaze bestride, 

And armed with rage through heaven careering ridcc 

But Bronte sees unmoved the tempest roll- 
To other conquests. turns his mighty soul, 42D 
And thus accosts his ten-or-bri&atliing bands :— . 
<*.Another triumph now your arms demands: 
•* Lo ! on yon ship the Spanish banners ^leam, 
•* The haughtiest ship that swims the ocean-stream ; 
** Close to her fires our ship triumphant guide, 4^5 
** And try the combat glorious side by side ; 
•** On Vincent's. day she owned our naval reign, (9) 
<* Though chance returned her to the arms of Spain, 
^* To day we meet — nor .fate shall part us more, 
** Till deep they sink us, or our prize restore," 430 

He said — the helm th* obedient pilots steer : 
In towering might the gallant ships draw near; 
Proud as they move the deadly fight to wage, 
Frowning defiance, and relentless rage, 
A gloomy shade each pitchy bulwark throws, 435 
Each warrior sternly marks th' advancing foes, 
JNFearer they come— yet nearer— hark ! they close. 
As if the moon by wrathful nature hurled, 
The spell dissolved that guides her round the world, 
In fierce encounter met this earthly ball, 440 

And threatening skies portended insUnt fall ; 



'} 



"48 Hxt'tle o> 

So fiercely met Iberia's floating tower, 

And Albion's ship, in all their deadly pcnver ; 

Their chafing sides in dire -commotion crash. 

And yards on yards wish crackling fury clash ; 445 

Like breaking clouds loose driving in the blast, 

Plaps the rent canvas on the splintered mast. 

And every warrior staggers with the shock, 

As each, full-sailed, had struck a storm-lashed rock, 

When Bronte thunders*--^" to decide the fight, 450 

<* Quick lash her to — and leave no chance for flight :" 

With equal rage the Spanish warriors cry, 

" Quick lash her to-"We conquer or we die." 

Grim at their posts th' undaunted sailors stand, 

Quick glides the binding rope through every hand, 455 

With winding chains the hostile prows are tied. 

And grasping irons seize each adverse side. 

Now each bound ship more awful lifts her form, 
With rage more fell they hurl the ceaseless storm : 
Gun roars at gun, and tier from tier rebounds, 460 

The dismal crash through each black ship resounds ; 
Shocks upon shocks convulse their opening frames. 
And both seem closely wrapped in smouldering flames : 
So close th' artillery played, the blazes fired (10) 
Each pitchy side, and fast the flames aspired : 465 

Thence had they spread, impatient of delay. 
Round each black ship, with unresisted sway ; 



TRAFALGAR. *9 

But calm and fearless in the jaws of death, 
Before th' opposing cannons* murderous breathy 
The British tars arrest the rapid flash, 470 

And round the blazing ports the briny torrents dash. 

While thus below the fierce artillery strive, 
Thick from ahove the leaden tempests drive ; 
The rapid fires the well-armed tops illume, 
And flashing through the dense sulphureous gloom, 4*75 
In awful splendour to each warrior show, 
Where grimly lowers the smoke-enveloped foe. 
Such floods of .fire through fields of ether stream, (11) 
Pour from the pole, in billowy splendour gleam. 
When Nature revelling with the Northern Morn, 480 
Bids her dread charms night's ebon throne adorn, 
Wide o'er the skies th* electric radiance plays, 
While boding nationsv trembling as they gaze, 
See glittering legions to the charge advance — 
Swordsburn, shields clash, and foamingchargerspranc€,485 

Denouncing horrid war, and death, and woe, 
In justice sent to scourge the world below. 

O then the horrors of the fight beg'an, 
Foe marked his foe, and man lay slain by man, 
The chiefs were singled from the hostile train, 490 
Fate frowned more dark, new thunders shook the main -, 
As all the furies of each adverse fleet, 
il'd^ here resolved in dreadful shock to meetj 



S6 BATTLE OF 

A s only here tHe fiends of strife engaged.; 

And here the Spirit of the battle raged ; 495 

And Death loud storming from a nitrous cloud 

Waved the long banner of his sable shroud, 

Shook ruin down, and grinned with horrid joy, 

Tired his bold sons, ferocious to destroy, 

And while the smoaking corses dashed -the wave, 500 

Snuffed the hot steam of gore fast^ushing from the brave i 

For Carnage heated hy the bloody strife, 

Swept on more fierce, more prodigal of life : 

Now on bold wing o'er each dark vessel soared, 

Now between decks with all its phalanx roared ; 50a 

Knee-deep in blood around the area played. 

And bared his reeking arn;, and whirled his bickering bladcc 

In all the horrors of the rueful scene, 
With heart unshaken — dauntless and serene. 
Involved in stench, and smoke, and brimstone night, 5il0 
The godlike Bronte urged .the glowing fight : 
JLike Britain's genius on the poop he trod. 
Armed with the terrors of th' avenging god i 
As when emerging from his pearly realm. 
Some strong Armada in the deep to whelm; 515 

Beneath his feet th' embattled -clouds are spread, 
Storm, fire, and darkness rage around his head.; 
Proud on his roaring cliffs^ erect he stands. 
Wields heaven's red thunder in his giant hands ; 
Whirls with sure aim the brandished bolt on high, 590 
And gives devouring lightiung wings to ily. 



TRAFALGAR. ' 51 

As fiercely round him blazed th* infuriate strife, 
Roused Friendship trembled for the hero's life : 
For oKhis breast a glittering trophy shone, 
Britannia's star — the honours of the throne ; 525 

(Such honours oft mysterious fate bestows, (12): 
To tempt the valiant, or to death expose ; ) 
She saw his danger, and in foresight sage, 
To save her Nelson from the marksman's rage. 
With fond persuasion, grasped his hand and cried— 530- 
** O i lay this fete-attracting charm aside : 
** The foes to missile war inured and bred, 
" Hurl at our bravest sons the vengeful lead 5 
♦• Should Britain's star once meet their eager eye, 
•* Impelled by fate a thousand balls would fly— 535 
** O ! let not Friendship, Wisdom vainly plead, 
•* Lest mourning Albioa in her hero bleed.'' 

But vain- V ere W6rds his fixed resolve to bend. 
He shunned the counsel, though he loved the friend. 

•* No ! ne'er, he said, shall Fame's censorious voice, 510 
** Repeat the tale, nor Britain's foes rejoice, 
** That dastard Fear, with palsied hand, unbraced 
** The royal gift that Nelson's bosom graced ! 
" Ne'er let the British star by fraud, or art, 
" Shine with false glory on a coward heart 1 545 

** Through storms of fire and death this star shall gloW; 
*[ And stream its lightning oa my country's fo^" 



BATTLE OF 



Too valiant chief !-^thy own unconquered fire, 
Devours thy life, and Friendship's hopes expire ! 

The keen sharp-shooters whose tremendous skill, BcjO 
As fate unerring, boasts the power to kill, 
Marked, faintly shining through the gloom from far, 
The silver radiance of the British star* 
Among them stood a veteran known to fame, 
Who ruled their force, Gon salvo was his name ; 555 
To hurl the fatal lead was all his joy, 
The sport that pleased the man, had charmed the bof ; 
Long had he joyed the wintry game to trace, 
And urge in summer's heat the ardent chace : 
With rapid balls the flying deer he tore, 5^0 

Or poured his vollies pn the tusky boan 
Thus had he reigned the terror of the woods, 
*Till Fame allured him to the warring floods 
In quest of nobler prey — he quickly spied 
The shining gloty, and transported Grkd J^— ' 565 

*" Lo ! my brave sons where Britain's boldest knight^ 
** Girt with his heroes, animates the fight, 
** To day what- glories would our arms emblaze, 
** What solid trophies of eternal praise ! 
** If heaven should prosper our resistless art, 570 

«* And guide this bullet to the lion's heart. 
** Ye saints to whom my native land is dear, 
•* Whose names we reverence, and whose powers we fear, 
** Accept our vows, and on your holiest shrine, 
♦' Shail Britain's star, a glorious offering shine ; 575 



^ O ! grant our prayer ! — destroy this scourge of Spain, 
" This lord of fate, this terror of the main !" 

He said — they levelled — and the tempest flew — ■ 
They erred from Bronte, but his heroes slew : — 
First brave Adair their ruthless vengeance feels, 580 
And o'er the deck in life's last effort reels, 
From Erin's isle, and Antrim's happy -dime. 
Whose vales romantic, and whose shores sublime, 
Oft charmed his soul — the youthful warrior came, 
Fired with high hopes of never-dying fame ; 585 

Nor vain hi^ hopes, though fate had sealed his doom 
In life's gay morn, or manhood's opening bloom : 
The moulded lead impetuous v/inged its way, 
Ruahed through the brain, and tore his life away. 

O happy youth ! thrice happy thus to die, 590 

Blest in th' ennobling cause of liberty ! 
For thee shall Lagan's nymphs their chaplets twine, 
With Nelson's honours joy to mingle thine ; 
And Erin's bards in fame-inspiring lays, 
Shall fire their youth to emulate thy praise. S9Z 

Then prone in death the valiant Palmer falL', 
Smote on the bosom by a shower of balls : 
So falls a stately oak that long had stood, 
In branching pride, the glory of the wood. 
Long shaken to and fro ; till heaven at last, 60'^ 

With forky lightning, and the rending blast, 
E 2 



54. 



BATTLE OF 



Strikes through its stubborn strength — with crashing 

sound, 
Thundering it falls, and hills, and vales resound. 

But fires more furious next in gores extend, 
Heroic Scott, immortal Nclson*s friend, 605 

Sudden he fell, beside his warlike train, 
Shorn by a furious thunderbolt in twain. 

Thou too, O Hardy ! in that bloody strife, 
Hadst left at glory's shrine thy noble life. 
Unless some angel swift at heaven's command, 610 
Had o'er thee held his tutelary hand. 
Turned the thick storm of whistling balls away, 
Or bade them round thee " innocently play»" 

As Nelson sees his bravest warriors die^ 
Grief moves his heart, hie heaves a pitying sigh, 615 
And while the stunning peals incessant roll, 
Thus pours in silent prayer his fervent soul : — (13) 

• *' Great God of battles ! whose almighty power, 

*' Hath been my shield in many a trying hour'; 

*' ThoU, who so oft hast bade thy angels bless 6i?0 

•* Britannia's arms, and mine, with great success ; 

*' O once again with favouring eye look down, 

•* Defend our cause, oUr fleets wiih glory crown ; 

*** I ask not life — but hear, O hear my prayer ! 

♦* Spare my bra'vc bcroef, g'-iardiail Father, t^n^: ' (>'2o 



TRAFALGAii S'^ 

*« Grant them that mercy thou hast shown to me ; 
" While I, obedient to thy kind decree, 
** Here for my country pour my latest breath,— 
'<My life of glory close in glorious death." 

Heaven heard — Britannia sighed — the death^ball 
prest, 630 

Aimed at the hero's Hon-heartecf chest ; 
Hissing it flew with more than mortal force^ 
Through the left shoulder urged its rapid course, 
Thence slanting downwards through the lungs it tore. 
Lodged in the spine, and drank the precious gore : 635 
Not instant freedom to his soul it gives y 
By heaven's indulgent grace he lives, he lives ! 
Nor shuts his eyes jn death's relentless sleep. 
Till Britain's banners triumph on the deep* 

'Tis said, when murder on the round to]p's height, 6)cQ 
Reeking with gor^, and clothed in dreary night, 
With Spain's elated sons, beheld the deed. 
And Albion's hero to the vitals bleed : 
With thirsty jaws the bloody bowl he quaffed, 
And roared aloud for joy, and stamped, and laughed. Gio 
The thoughtless crew soon caught the horrid sound, (14) 
And rolled th* exulting shout of triumph round, 
As haughty Albion's proudest hopes were dead, 
As Albion's spirit with her son's had fled ! 
Unhappy race ! too soon your hearts rejoTce, 650 

Too soon ye raise the high. triumphal voicS i 



86 BATTLE 6F 

For one great chief — for one destructive balt^ 

Your bravest warriors, ranks, on ranks shall falU- 

Lo ! all the horrors of avenging fate, 

O^er your proud ship in dire assemblage wait ! S55 

As Victory by the flags of Albion stood. 
Flushed with the toil, and breathing mists of blood y 
She marked the ball on Fate's swift pinions fiy, 
And shrieked with loud invofuatary cry ; 
A chilly coldness through her bosom crept ; 660 

Propt on her spear, she bowed her head and wept ; 
Nov/ o'er her face a death-like paleness spread. 
And now it kindled to a dazzling red, 
For grief and rage possessed her soul by turas. 
Now pity melts — now kindling vengeance bums : 665 
She grasps her spear, erects her plumy crest, 
And breathes new fire in every valiant breast. 
And shouts aloud " the doleful deed is done, 
<' Rouse, Britons, rouse ! — avenge — avenge my son.*' 

On all the po\Vers of vengeance loud she cried, 670 
And all theif powers came rallying to her side ; 
His warlike sons grim Carnage quick arrayed, 
And Death smote furious with his scythe-like blade. 
Balls hissed^— shells burst-^the fell grenadoes flew— 
Spaia shrieked — Fate stormed, and ranks on ranks 
overthrew — 676 

Now raging Havo6 takes the lightning's wings, 
In rattling thunder to the roynd tops springs ; 



tRAFALGAR, 57 

Wi t It }i^nds remorseless rends th' elated foe^ 

Hurls the torn members on the decks below, 

Nor leaves a man %o boa«t, of all the train,. 6SD' 

>Iis hand ennobled by great Bronte slain. 

The brave: Baltazar, Spain's iliustri'ous chief, 
Sighed at theirfall, with mingled shame and grief : 
'diis heroes slaughtered, and- his hopes all fled, * 

And girt ivith smoaking hillocs o^ the dead, 685 

He sees fell Ruin s^veep tK- ensanguined deck, ' 

His ship dismasted— shattered to a wreck, ' 

Faint, and more fajnt her languid efforts groir, 
Through many ?c gaping wound^ the surges iTow, 
Till now half-sinking' in the whelming tide, 690* 

His flag he strikes, and bows his heart of pride. 

The thrice repeated loud heart -thrilling cheer. 
Conveyed the triumph to the victor's ear ; 
While in his friend's supporting arms he lay. 
And life's retreating floods ebbfed fast away. 695 

Joy, fluttering cherub,' to his bosom stole, ' 

New strung his nerves, and cheered his manly soul ; 
And Victory too, her dying son carest. 
Dropped her sweet influence on his wounded breast, 
And while his brows wijii deathjess fame she bound, 700- 
Poured in his ear the heart -dilating sound ; 
** Britannia triumphs — Glory sheathes the sword, 
•* And mighty navies hail thee conquering lord."; 



^ BATTL£ OF TRAFALGAR. 

Charmed by the sound what new emotions rlsf , 
And thrill his bo3om, as rejoiced he cries \ — •' 705 

« O bless, ray soul ! O blest th* Almighty King, 
** His be the praise from whona nl} glories spring 1"—^ 

Rapt in 3eTotiion paused' the godlike man. 
Then with benignant smile again began :— 
•* Ere life be closed — ^my brave heroic crew, 7iO 

•* Receive My !ove^»-my fohdfest, last, adieu ! 
•* And to my honoured, noble compeer, tell, 
•* Dying, I bid my Collingwood farewell : 
«* O may he long, with arm puissant, guide 
** The red-crosB flag in triumph o'er the tide, 715= 

'••'Its haughtiest foes, with might resistless, brave, 
** And tell the world, — ^ Britapnia rules the wave.* 
** For me — ^the bounty of indulgent heaven 
** The death of heroes to my prayer has given : 
•< *Tvvas all I asked— I kiss the friendly rod— 720' 
** My king, my country ! bless them, O my God V^ 

He said, his fleeting spirit v,-inged her flighty 
To peacefsl regions of celestial light. 



THE EStf* 



NOTES 



TO 



BOOK THE FIRST. 

^ 



-rjniumm o tLUU) 



mm m m uMM mi— mLVinxumm ^ 



NOTES 



TO 



BOOK THE FIRST. 



Kcte 1 — line 32. 
<* Bronte's dread lord, that thunderbolt of war/* 
Scipiades, belli fulmen, Carthagiais horror. 

LUCR. 

, duo fulxnina belli 

Scipiades. 

VIRG, 

The title of Duke of Bronte, and the annexed fief, were conferred 
on Lord Nelson, by Ferdinand the IVth. king of the two Sicilies, 
as a mark of gratitude for Iiaving " reconquered his kingdom, and 
placed him on the throne." 

It is remarkable that Bronte is the Greek of thunder. 



Note 2— lines 45-46. 

**As erst when France, at Nile's affrighted flood, 
" Tinged the blue billow with her children's blood/' 

The celebrated battle of the Nile was fought on the 1st of Au- 
gust, 1798, On the morning of that day the French fleet was 
F 



e2 ' NOTES TO 

rilicovereJ mooretl in. the bay of Abcukir. "As all the ofF.cers of 
oai- squadron were totally unacquainted with Aboukir bay, each 
ship kept sounding as she stood in. The enemy appeared to be 
moored in a strong and compact h'ne of battle, cloee in with the 
shore, the line describing an obtuse angle in its form, flanked by 
numerous gun-boats, four fri^-ates, and a battery of guns and mor- 
tars on an island in their van The position of the enemy pre- 
sented the most formidable obstacles, but the Admiral viewed 
them with the eyes of a seaman, determined on attack, and it in- 
stantly 6truck.his eager and penetrating niind, that where there 
was room for one sliip to sv;ing, there was room for another of 
curs to anchor. No further signal was necessary than that which 
had already been made. The Admiral's designs were fully known 
to the whole squadron, as was his determination to conquer or 
perish in the attempt." The result was what might he expected 
from such a heroic determination. The whole of the enemy's 
fleet, with the exception of two ships of the line and two frigates, 
were taken or destroyed, in the battle. 



Ncte 3 — lines 39-40. 

" Or, wlien the Baltic, round his windiBg shore, 

" Heard the dread voice of Britain's thunder roar ;" 

The memorable victory of Copenhagen was gained on April 2d, 
1801. A victory of the utmost importance to the welfare of 
England, as it dissolveti that formidable confederacy of the Northern 
Powers, known by the name of the '• Armed Neutrality." — See an 
anhnated and interesting description of this battle in Carr's Nor- 
thern Summer, or Travels round the Baltic, through Deiiaiark, 
Sweden, &c. — 



Boon: TiiL riRsr. 63 

«•' '.Vliile thy bold squcidron winged the iron sleet, 

** That smote her ranks, and swept her widowed street." 

How quick they wheel'd, and flying, behind them shot 
Sharp sect of arrowy shower. 



MILTOV, 



Iron sleet of arrowy shower 
Hurtl;63 in the darkened air. 



<* It may be difficult to mark the exact boundary of what should 
be termed plagiarism : where the sentiment and expression are 
both borrowed without due acknovv'Ied^ment, th.n-e can be no 
doubt : — single words, on tiie contrary, taken from other authors, 
cannot convict a Avriter of plagiarism : they are lawful game, wild 
by nature; the property of all wh^ can ca^'^ture tliem — and, per- 
haps, a few common flowers of speech may be gathered as we pass 
our neighboar's inclosure, without stigmatizing us with the titla 
cf thieves, but we must not therefore plunder his cultivated fruit." 

DARWIN. 



Note 5 — lines 91-92. 

" Th' unconscious sailors sung their Nelson's name, 
" Proud of their chief, and glorying in his fame." 

The reception of Lord Nelson a; the fleet, which he joined on 
t^he 2F,th of September, speaks beyond the power of language, tliC 
high estimation in which he was held by those under his command. 
The following i? an extract from a letter to one of his friend 3j 
dated aboi^t a fortnight before the battle :— 



64f NOTES TO 

*« The reception I met with on joining the fleet, caused the 
sweetest sensations of my life. The officers who came on board 
to welcome my return, forgot my rank as commander in chief in 
the enthusiaim with which they greeted me. As soon as these 
emotions were past, I laid before them the plan I had previously 
arranged for attacking the enemy, and it was not on'y my pleasure 
to find it generally approved, but clearly perceived and understood. 
The enemy are stillin port, but jomething must be immediately 
done to provoke or lure them to a battle. My duty to my country 
demands it, and the hopes centered in me, I hope in God, will be 
realized. In less than a fortnight expect to hear from me, or of 
me — for who can foresee the fate of battle ? Put up your prayers 
for my success, and may God protect all my friends." 

In a letter of a prior date, he says : — 
« I believe my arrival was most welcome, not only to the com- 
mander of the fleet, but also to every individual in it ; and when 
I came to explain to them my plan of attack, it was like an electric 
shock— some shed tears, all approved. It was new ; it was singu- 
lar ; it was simple ; and from admirals downwards it was repeat- 
ed — it muit succeed, if ever they wiil allow us to get at them." 

For illustrntion of the lines, which immediately follow those 
which introduced this note, it may not be unnecessary to observe, 
that Nelson, at the age of 12, went on board the Raisonable, of 64 
guns. He afterwards accompanied Lord Mulgrave in his voyage 
of discovery to the North Po'e. The following anecdote, is re- 
corded as a proof of his intrepidity, when he was only a boy : — 
" In these high northern latitudes the nights are generally clear ; 
during one of them, notwithstanding the extreme bitterness of the 
cold, young Nelson was missing, and every search was instantly 
made In quest of him, and it was imagined he was lost ; when lo ! 
as the rays of the rising sun opened the distant horizon, to the 



BOOK THE FIRST. 65 

astonishment of his mess'-np.tes, he was discovered at a considera- 
ble distance on the ice, armed with ,a single musket, in anxious 
pursuit of an immense bear. The lock of the piece having reen 
ra>-ed, it woM.ld not go off; he h:id tlierefore pursued the animal 
in hopes of tiring him,and at length was able to effect his purpose 
wich the but-end. Being reprimanded for leaving the ship with- 
.out leave, the young hero replied, ' I wished, sir, to get the skin 
' - ;■'-- fiither." 



Note 6— line 112. 

*' And Erin's wolf-dogs claimed the fight in vain." 

« The Irish v/olf-dogs, being creatures of great strength and size, 
and of a fine shape," may be considered as no less characterestic of 
Irish, than the Lion of English warriors. They have been esteem- 
ed as presents fit for kings ; of which there is an instance in Sir 
Thomas Rowe, Ambassador to the great Mogul, who obtained 
large favours from that Monarch on account of a present of those 
dogs, which he made him in 1615. There is extant in the Rolls- 
office of Ireland, a privy seal from King Henry VIII. obtained at 
the suite of the Duke of Alberkyrke, of Spain, (who was of the 
privy council of Kenry VIII.) for the delivery of two gos-hawks, 
and four Irish greyhounds, to the Spanish Marquis of Dessaraya 
and his son, and the survivor of them, yearly ; which shows the 
value put by foreigners on such presents." 

salmon's Geography. 
f2 



6(i NOTES TO 

Note 7— lines ICjI-132. 

** Escaped that dreadful day, before the gale, 
*' Iij one swift ship, he spread the flying sail" 

VJlleneuve escaped from the battle of the Nile in the Guillaumt' 
TelJ, and to(;k refuge in the bay of Ma'ta. The Penelope com- 
manded by Captain Blackwood was stationed, by Lord Nelson, to 
watch her motions. « Under cover of a dark night and a gale of 
wind she attempted to elude the vigilance of this gallant ofiicer, 
and had cleared the harbour when she was attacked by the Pene- 
lope, mked and otherwise so roughly damaged in her yards and 
^^tog^'-g 3s to enable our ships to come up, and capture her at day 
break." 



Note 8— lines 117-1 iS. 

" Ranged in the van, three h;fty squadrons liehn 
" Their course resounding through the liquidrealm ;'* 

For the satisfaction of the reader the "following correct list of 
the FreEch and Spaniih line of battle," is here inserted: — 

GRAND FLEET. 
Van. 

F. Le P uton , 74 F. L'lndomptable ,.. 80 

S El Monarca 74 S El San Justo 74 

F. Le Fougueux - 74 F. L'Intrepide 74 

S. La Santa Anna, Admiral F. Rhin, frigate,...,.. «. . 40 
Gardccjui^.. ...... 112 

Centre. 

F. RcdouV-t;iMe..: ... . " '^ ^ La ?rinti'?ima Tr-ni- 



BOOK THE FIRST. 67 

K Le Neptune 81 F. Le Heros..;.... .'• 'J't 

F. LeBuctntaure, Admiral S, El San Agustin 74 

Viileneuve,,.. . 80 F. L'Hortense, frigate, 40 
F. La Fiiret, brig, ... • 1* 
Rear. 

F. Le Montblanc 74 S. El Rayo .' 1CK> 

S. Sn. Francisco De Asis.... 74 F. Le Scipion 74 

F Le Dugnay Trouin 74 S. El Neptune -• • ^O 

F. Le Formidable, Rear F. La Cornelie, frigute, 40 

Admiral Dumanoir, 80 

FLEET OF OBSERVATION. 
Rear Divssion. 

S. El San Juan Nepomir- F. Achille 74 

ceno 74 S El San Ildephonso 74 

F. Le Berwick 74 F. L'Argonaut 74 

S. El Principe de Asturias, F. Le Thames, frigate, 40 

Admiral Gravina.... 1!2 F. L'Argus, brig IG^ 

Second Division 

F. Le Swiftsure ... 74' S El J^.Tontanoaz : .. 74 

S El Argonanta....... = .... 80 F. L'Aigle 74 

F. L'Algesiras, Rear- Ad- S. La Baliama 74 

miral Megou.. 74 F. L'Hermoine, frigate 40 

Total. 

French ships of the Line 18 

Spanish ditto 15.33 

Frigates 5 

Brigs , '^ 



Note 9 — line 208, 

« Craunched their fell jaws, and snuffed their coming 
prey ;" 

Thoii?-h the v/ord' croMnch be net used, as far as the author 



6$ NOTES TO 

knows, by any modern poet, he has ventured to adopt it on the 
autliority of Spencer zud Swii't, 



Note 10— lines 223-224. 

" The dread command comes tingling on the ear, 

*' F.ilc grows each cheek, with strange unwoiUcd fear :" 

The eve of a battle is a season of su?sper.S3 and terror, ten fold 
more terrille than the action itself. It is therefore no derogation 
from the character of the firmest heroes to feel deeply impressed 
with that ' unwonted fear,' which the author describes. The 
great master of the epic lyre, has described the Trojans as trembling 
for their hero, and Kector himself as seized with emotions of 
dread. 

The Greeks were affected in a similar manner at the challenge 
of Hector. 

01 V K^a orav7if axm Iy£vjv7a s-iaiTtl 



Note 11— lines 239-24©. 



<* Light o'er the curling surges others bound, 

« To the shrill fife's, and drum's, and trumpet's sound." 



BOOK THE FIRST. 6IC 

*» List where sottl- moving music floats around* 
« Inspiring tune — ' Britannia rules the waves'— 

" Cheer following cheer, from every ship resounds ; 
** The meaning — « Britons never will be slaves.'* 



Note 12— Ime 303. 



*' The Norman William at her bowsprit shone.'^" 

The author in describing the dlfFeren t ships of the British fleet, 
has obeyed the impulse of fancy, regulated, however, by what 
seems to him a principle of propriety, in affixing to the head of 
each, a figure corresponding to her name. He has discovereii 
since the first part of the poem came from the press, that the Con- 
queror had the bust of Alexander the Great — but how was he to 
know from the name of rhe ship that this bust was the most ap- 
propriate ? — might it not with equal propriety, have been that of 
Cyrus or Caesar ! William the Conqueror first rose to the imagi- 
nation; and the historical fact, to which the author alludes in the 
description, is honourable to the British nation. 

It is said that William was of the enormous stature of eight 
het, and his bow, like the bow of Ulysses, would bend to no arm. 
but its master's. 

If the reader prefer Alexander to William he may read :-▼ 

The world's great victor at her bov/sprit shone, 
And seemed to lead Britannia's heroes on, 

* It is customary for the bands of th$ different ships to play same /«- 
spiring tune on going to battle, — " Hearts of Oak, \5'c'* At the Nile^ 
every ship possessing a band, struck up — " God save the King, as ive 
doubled the island^ and bore doxvn upon the van of the enemy. M. B.. 



TQ N0T2S TO 

As when he boldly 8t^mni:ie4th.e Gresnlc wnvet, 

Tc meet proud Pt rgi^'s.rtjitr.ed hobts of slavvti j 

Before rhe l^osom of rhe snorting steed, 

Swift as he riioves th trembling waves recede : 

High towers the ostrich crest, of dazzh'ng white, 

Like the long tresses of the god of h'ght : 

His sword's bright radiance in the burning air, 

Flan ed like a co?vet's scintillating hair; 

Or like the scorching fires of Lybian Jove, 

Shot terror on the foe, and fierce on Gallia drove. 

The < world's great victor' was shot away in the battle. He 
is to be succeeded by the hero of Trafalgar, clothed in panoply o£ 



Note 13 — line 313. 

'* Boil as lie moves, rmd mark his hoary track."" 

He maketh the deep to boil like a pot ; he maketh the sea like 
a pot of ointment^ r he maketh a path to shine after him: — one 
would think the deep to be hoary. job x!I. SI, 32. 



Note l-4~lines 327-52S. 

** Her giant warrior, clothed in shining arms, 

*' Hastes, with long strides, to meet the war's alarms :" 



BOOK TTTE FIS.ST. 71 

Th2 author Ii:-.s followed Pope in renderlr^g '^vrov a mace, 
though it properly Signifies a spear. It is worthy of remark that 
this most excellent poet in his translaticn has omitted the epithet 
vKvf/ci;(^ov, " formed for the naval conflict," ^u£jx,etiu>coiri-yr'/};i^t>, 
t-Luo and tiveniy cubits, an expression which cannot pioperly stand ia 
English heroic verse. 



Note IJ— lines 339,340. 

** Th' Orion next the surges seemed to plow, 
** With storms and tempests on her golden prow." 

Armatumque auro circumspicit 0-iona. 
— subito assurgens fluctu nirabosus Orion. 
Dam pelago desxvit hyems, et aquosus Orion. 



Note 16~line S4i;. 
■*• Then Agamemnon to the conflict came," 

- \v ^ kvrat ilv(rcC\o vo}oo<7fa. ^xXxcv 

Kv^tooin', on TTcijri ^srt'Z'oi-Tnv 'houicrc-iv' 

••"•>. .»'—J\urfold crest Tsr^x'poiX'/.oov. 



Note 1 /--lines S5S, G54, 

** Stout Minotaurus scudding swift behind, 

" Her canvass oinions stretched before the wind j'-* 



trS KOTES TO 

Turn pcndere poena?, 
Cecropldie jussi (miserum) septena quotannis 
Corpora natorum. «******» 
************** 

Hie crudelis amor Tauri, supposta que furto 
Paslphae, mist umque genus, prolesque biformis, 
Minocaurus inest Veneris monimenta nefandx. 



Note 18 — lines 363, (164. 

'* A fair Laconian armed for warlike deeds, 

*• Breathing dismay, the bounding Spartiate leads j** 

Virginia os habitumque gerens, et virginis arma 

Spartanje : 

Namque hnmeris de more habilem suspenderat arcuni» 

Mare per medium, fluctu suspensa tumenti 

Ferret iter ; celeres nee tirgeret aequore plantas. 



Note 19--lia23 391-3D2. 

*' V/ith that famed standard, Gallia's highest boast, 
** Pride of her arms, and glory of her host :" 

*' A standard covered with the military exploits of the corps 
(the invincibles) to which it belonged:" Irisciibed on it were the 
fo. lowing testimonials of its renown in war. Le Patsage de la 
Seriviii, le Patsage da Tagl'iavicnto^ le Passage dc V Isojizo^ le Prise de 
Graz, le Pont de Lcdi, In the battle of Aiexiiiidrla, fought on the 
2 1 St of March 1801, tiiis stand wd was takec by the British troops. 



BOOK THE FinST. YS* 

Note 20— line 411. 
"4< Ensigns, the boast of every British knight ;*' 

The different orders of British knighthood, the Garter, the 
Bath, and the ThistJe, are respectively distinguished by blue, 
crimson, and green ribands. 

In the battle of the Nile — « Nelson was so entirely resolved 
tD conquer, or perish in the attempt, that he led into the action 
with six ensigns or flags, viz. red, white and blue, flying In diffier- 
ent parts of the rigging ; he couM not bear to reflect on the pos- 
sibility of his colours being carried away by a random shot froni 
the enemy. 



Note 21 — line 445. 

«^ Th' enormous image of her archer god ;" 

It it said that the famous statue of Apolls, known by t!ie name' 
of the Colossus of Rhodes, held a lamp in his hand to serve as a 
Kght-house. The other circumstances referred to, in thrS descrip- 
tion, are well known to the Classical reader. 



Note 22~lines 466-467. 

« Dark frowned her imaged Cyclop o*er the deep, 
« As once he frowned on rough Trinacria's steep i*' 

^ i'^ura ;\;«X«;<ra7'« x»j^5^< ^a XXtfv 

K«9* O ^t^aXs ^^sTct^ath nag Kvavo^pMooio^ 
G 



7* -NOTES TO 

Note 23— lines 482-4C3. 

•<*With foam.girt sides, the nimble Swiftsure'fliej ; 
** Fleet as an eagle cuts the liquid skies." 

Cuam facile acclpeter saxo sacer ales ab alto 
Consequitur peniiis sublimem in nube columbam, 
Coraprensainqtie tenet, pedibusque eviscerat uncis : 
Turn cr\ioi et vulsa labuntur ab asthere plums?. 



Note 24— lines 523-524. 

^* The Prince succeeds — and on her brazen prow, 
.^♦The noble Edward raised his princely brow." 

Edward the Black Priiixre. The crest of the king of Eoht-mia, 
consisting of three white plumes of ostrich, feathers, was foun4 
among the spoils at the batfle of Cressey : and thence becanae 
tjic crest of the Princes of Wales. 



■l^Iote 25— line 548. 

*^ From van to rear their bounding frigates play ;" 

Admiral CoUingwood during the action dispatcl'.ed captain 
Blackwood, to inquire the state of Lord Nelson's health. Cap- 
tain Blackwood went in his own boat, which was rowed dowij 
the whole of the fleet. *' lih an honourable agreement bettveen tw9 
contending Jlids, that they never jire on the ftirates^ nor on any cutteror 
toatf unless they make a part of the o[)posi g force." 

Extract of a letter ^om an Officer on board of the Euryaba, 



latiifcdMgMtwiMii-BWMiiiiiiwiwi imii mi hi I'lii 



NOTES 



Ta 



BOOK THE SECOND. 



NOTES 



TO 

BOOK THE SECOND. 



Note 1—. lines 25-2G. 

"Them heaven's dread storms, arxd Britain's whelming 

ire, 
« Sunk in the deep, or cloathed in vengeful fire ;'* 

The Spanish armada, ostentatiously stiled the invincible, con- 
sisting of the greatest number of ships and men ever fitted out by 
Spain for the invasion of England, seemed marked by the elements 
for destruction. The day after it left the port of Lisbon, a violent 
tempest sunk the small shipping, and obliged the rest to retreat 
from its fury. When they had refitted, they again set sail and 
st6ered towards the coast of England. Efiingham the English ad- 
miral, soon perceived them standing on in the form of a crescent, 
seven miles in extent, and though deterred at first from venturing 
on a close attack by the manifest superiority of the Spanish fleet, 
both in number and v^^eight of metal, he hung upon their rear, 
and by the rapidity of his broadsides, and the terror of his fire 
ships, soon put them into confusion. Seconded by Drake, Haw- 
kins and Froblsher, the most illustrious naval commanders of the 
age, he took or destroyed, twelve ships, and obliged tha rest to 
seek safety in flight. Those which escaped the rage Qjf war were 
g2 



73 NOTES TO 

afterwards terribly shattered by storms. Seventeen ships witV 
five thousand men on board were shipwrecked on the coot of Ire- 
land, and the western isles; and of the whole armada, consisting 
of a hundred and thirty vessels, only fifty-three floating wrecks 
returned to Spain with the news of their disasters.* 



Note 2— lines 119-120. 

**As if th* immortals, who on Phrygia's soil 

** Waged dreadful fight, resumed the glorious toil j*' 

The classical names of the ships readily suggested the propriety^ 
cf the allusion to the most sublime description in Horn er. 

At the 131 line the allusion is continued, particuWIy to that 
passage where Pluto is represented as leaping from his throne, 

Tatxv avxfif,'/i^iii liorii^auv hoffix^uVy 
Olxict ti ^'jyirotfi xcci ccSccvctroicri (pnvsi'/t 

It is worthy of observation that Virgil, Ovid and Pope who 
have imitated or translated this pas3:ige, have omitted what seems 
to the author one of its principal beauties '/jj;^i exclamavit,wr//2/j ; 
(as it is rendered by Clarke) shouted for fuvr. 

Ncn secus ac si qua penitus vi terra dehiscens 
liifernas reserat sedeSj et regna recludat ; 

* C?.' t/" the icmlcirciilar hays at the Giants' Causeivay^ h still called 
Port na Spania, in jnemory of some of the SparAsh vessels <ivr:cksd near 
it. The ligenious father of the yov.ng pod^ Rtmitf^y RuLifUOn^ has made 
i-wo iHis)e;tii2g puintlf'^i on this iuhjc(t. 



BOOK THE SECONB, 

Pallida dlis invlsa ; superque immane barathi'uni, 
Cernatur j trepidentque imniisso lumine manes. 

DIssilit omne solum : penetratque in Tartara rimis, 
Lumen et iufernum terret cum conjuge regem. 

And again 
Inde tremit telius, et rex pavet ipse sllentum 
Ne pateat, latoque solum retegatur hiatu, 
Immissusque dies trepidantea terreat umbras. 

Deep in the dismal regions of the dead, 
Th' infernal monarch reared his hoary iiead, 
Leaped from his throne lest Neptune's arm should lay 
His dark dominions open to the day, 
And pour in light on Pluto's drear abodes 
Abhorred by men, and hated even by Gods. 



79 



Note 3— lines 169 170-171. 

"On, on ye brave ! 

" With maddening horrors let the tempest rave, 
" For George and England, glory, or the grave !'^ 

The battle thickens — on ye brave, 
T?hat rush to glory or the grave : 
Wave, Munich ! all thy banners wave, 

And charge with all thy chivalry. Campbell's Hohcnlinden, 



Note 4 — line IDI: 
" Starts the hot maiTow from the fractured spine :*' 



f^viXo^ avTt 



HOM» 



80 



NOTES TO 



Note 5 — lines 367-368. 
" Loud shouts of triumph from the victors rise,' 
«* Roll o'er the main, and echo to the skies.'' 

Tills action of the Temeraire is mentioned by Lord Collingwocd- 
in his official dispatch to the admiralty as a circumstance which, 
*' strongly marks the invincible spirit of British seamen when en-- 
gaging the enemies of tlieir coiuitry. The contest, he adds, was 
vigorous, but, m the end, the coTibined ensigns were torn from 
the poop, and the British hoisted in their place." Indeed, when 
we consider the great superiority of numbers on board the French 
and Spanish ships, this achievement may be considered as one of 
the most brilliant in the records of naval history, 



Note 6 — line 374; 
'' And twice two hundred on the decksWay dead :'^ 

" It was Lca-d Nelson's inteution to begin the action by passing- 
ahead of the Bucentaur, that the Victory might be ahead of her, 
and aitern of the Santissima Trinidada ; but the Bucentaur shoot- 
ing ahead, his Lordship was obliged so go under her stern, raked 
her an-d luffed up tathe starboard side — The Bucentaur fired four 
broadsides at the Victory, before his Lordship ordered the ports 
to be opened, when the whole broadside, which was double shot- 
ted, was fired into her, and the discharge made such a tremendous 
crash, that the Bucentaur was seen to heel. A short time after 
this, Admiral Villeneuve sent below to inquire the^number of the 
killed and wounded, which proved ta be the amazing number of 
three hundred and sixty five killed, and two hundred and nineteen 
wounded. He immediately ordered his flag to be struck ; the 
Bucentaur being, then dismasted^ and quite unmanageable. Lord 
Nelson upon this, shot ahead to the Santissima Trinidada." 
Extract of a letter jfrom an Officer, on board the Euryalus, 



EOO-K THE SECOND. . St.' 

Note 7 — line 394. 
•*''He Strikes his flag, and yields the captive sword.** 

It is usual, when a ship strikes her flag, for the commander to 
send his sword, as a proof of his submission to the victor — The 
Spanish Vice Admiral, Don Ignatio Maria d'Alava, struck to Ad- 
miral Collingwood, but afterwards escaped into Cadiz in the 
Santa Anna. It was at first reported that he was killed, but when 
Admiral Coliingwood understood that he was only wounded, he 
wrote the following letter, claiming him as a prisoner of war, 

Euryalust off Cadiz ^ OSiobtr 30, 1805. 
SIR, 

It is with great pleasure that I have heard the wound you re- 
ceived in the action is in a hopeful way of recovery,. and that your 
country may still have the benefit of your future service. 

But, Sir, you surrendered yourself to me, and it was in conside- 
ration only of the state of your wound, that you were not remov- 
ed into my ship. I could not disturb the repose of a man supposed 
to be in his last moments ; but your sivord, the emblem of your serm 
vice, ivas delivered to me by your captain, and I expect that you consi- 
der yourself a prisoner of war, until you shall be regularly ex- 
changed by cartel. 

I have the honour to be, &c. 

C. COLLlNGWOODv 
To Vice Admiral Bon Ignatio Maria D^Alava. 
Sent under cover to Admiral Gravina. 



Note 8 — line 398. 
<« Caught by th* unguarded flanrie, in air she blew." 

" The Achille (a French 74) after having surrendered, by some 
miyiiaBagement of the French, took fire and blew up ; two huR*- 



BQ NOTES Ta- 

dred of her m«'n we"e swetl by the tenders *' — The author thoughr 
it more poetical to deiciibe her as blown up in the heat of tb«. 
action. 



Note 9— lii;e 427. 
" On Vincent's day she owned our naval reign.'' 

Though it does not appear that the .Santissima Trinadada ever 
Struck before to the British flag, Lord Nelson had acquired great 
honour for grappling with her in the aciun of the 1-ith February 
1797, off Cape St. Vincent. On the present occasion, he ordered 
the Victory to be laid aiongbide his *' old acquaintance." 



Note 10—1 nes 464-46^. 
" So close th' artillery played, the bhzcs fired' 
** Each pitchy side, and fast the flames aspired j" 

A paper in the Gibraltar Chronicle states, that at the coM- 
men«.eme!)t of the action the Victory was so c osely engaged with 
the French ship Redoubtable, that the flash of almost every gun 
from the Victory set fire to her adversary's sides; *' Whilst our 
seamen, with the greatest coolhesar, were, at intervals, employed, 
in the midst of the hottest fire, in throwing buckets of water ta 
extingui-ih the flames on board the enemy's ship"; lest, by their 
spreading, they might involve both ships in destruction. We 
question if ancient or modern history can produce a more strik- 
ing example of cool and deliberate valour, than what we have 
just recorded, and it certainly reflects the highest honour upon- 
the discipline and intrepidity of that ship's crew." 



Note 11— line 478. 
« Such floods of fire through fields of ether stream.'/" 
The Aurora Borealis. That propensity in human nature^ t9^ 



■EOOX THE SEC01«ID. 63 

■consider every phenomenon as intimately connectd with the des- 
tines of man, has found ample indL.lgence in the contemplation ol 
this sublime appearance. It is vulgarly reported, that it was first 
observed in Englind, before Charles the first was beheaded ; and 
in Scotland,, prior to the rebellion of I74j. Though it has of late 
yea'S, only became,:^ subject of philosophic investigation, it did 
cot escape the observation of the ancients. Tacitus, speaking of 
Jerasa em, observes that before it fell under the Roman arms, se- 
veral extraordinary appearances were seen in the air, portendmg 
its destruction. •' Visas per cceium concurrere acies rutilantia 
arma, et subito nubium igne coilucere templum." I'his account 
is corroborated by the authority of Josephus. 



Note 12— lines 526-527. 
*< Such honours oft mysterious fate bestows, 
<«To tempt the valiant, or to death expose." 

humeris irimicum insigre gerebat— 

,...,. ..• ..non-liGS quajsitum nnmns in usus. 

Nescia metis hominum fati, sortisque futurae, 

Et servaremodum rebus sub'ata secundis ! VIR. 

The swnrd prese-^ted by Hector to A'yix, was the sword on 
which Ajaxfell. ■ The defei'der of Troy was dragged at the cha- 
riot of Achilles by the belt he had received as a m*.moiial cf die 
Grecian warrior's regard. 



Note 13- line 617. 
**Thus pours in silent prayer his fe'-vent soul." 

It is much to the honour of Lord Neho 's character that he was 
animated by a sincere and fervent piety. From many ii stances 
furnished by his illustrious Ufe, thj following htter is selected, a» 
a striking proof of the truth of tlie observation. 



84» NOTES TO BOOK THE SECOMD. 

Copy of a Utter from Lerd Nelson to bis Lady, 

Vanguard, St. Peter's Island, off Sardinia, 
My dearest Fanny ^ May 24, 1 798. 

I ought not to call what has happened to the Vanguard, by the 
cold name of accident ; I believe firmly it was the Almighty 
Goodness to check my consummate vanity. I hope it has made 
me a better officer, as I iet\ it has made me a better man : I kls« 
with all humility the rod. Figure to yourself on Sunday evening, 
at sunset, a vain man walking in his cabin, with a squadron around 
him, who looked up to their chief to lead them to glory, af^d in 
whcm their chief placed the firmest reliance, that the proudest 
ships of equal numbers, belonging to France, would have lowered 
their flags ; and with a very rich prize lying by him. Figure to 
yourself on Monday morning, when the sun rose, this proud con- 
ceited man, his ship dismasted, his fleet dispersed, and himself in 
such distress, that the meanest frigate out of France would have 
been an unv^elcome guest. But it has pleased Almighty God to 
bring us into a safe port, where, although we are refused the right« 
of huma-.^ity, yet the Vanguard will, in two days, get to sea again 
as an English man of war. 



Note 1 4— Ih.e 645. 
*' The thoughtless crew soon caught the horrid sound.** 

We may justly appreciate the character of Lord Nelson, from 
the terror in which he was held by the enemy. It is said that 
the crew of the Santissima Triiiidada actually raised a shout of 
triumph when they beheld his fall. 



FINIS. 



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